Air Kerala (Kochi International) could at long last launch operations in July this year, nearly 9 years after the project was first conceived. The Hindu newspaper reports Kochi International operator, Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL), is in the process of securing a 15-seater aircraft with plans to open up flights from Kochi to Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode.
“The service, connecting the three airports in the State as well those in the neighbourhoods is expected to commence within seven months from now and we are in the final stages of negotiations for leasing in the aircraft,” a top airport official told the paper on condition of anonymity.
The carrier had planned to commence operations in 2005 with the overall objective of offering budget flights between the state of Kerala and the Middle East - home to a large Keralite expatriate labour community.
However, those plans were continuously deferred after requests to successive Indian governments for exemption from the country's 5/20 law (an airline may only begin international flights once it has been operational for 5 years and maintains a fleet of at least 20 aircraft) were rejected.
The project will subscribe to the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model with the Kerala state government, CIAL, and other parastatals holding a 26% stake while the remaining 74% will be held by individuals and private entities.
